"Hail To Thee....Old Ivy League....Poison Ivy League"

               When I was a kid I had my own ivy plant. I couldn't tell you what fascinated me about it....maybe it was because it continued to grow....I couldn't kill it if I tried.....and it always remained green. To this day I....we....have an ivy in the house. Decades before I ever heard the name John Harvard.....or understood anything about how Harvard came into being....I was in awe of Harvard University....of the Ivy League of course....for that's where JFK went to college....and all of us Catholics loved that man.
               The honeymoon that my wife and I choose was up through the Poconos....across Rhode Island into Massachusetts....and then the Cape....Falmouth to be specific....Hyannis and Martha's Vineyard....after a few days down through Boston....and on across Massachusetts and New York....and up into Canada.....Niagara Falls to be specific.....but while in Boston we had to visit Harvard. Even a few years earlier than that.....while at Pitt....they offered a three day trip to Harvard....(for $100)....to a Peace And Conflict Studies conference. Well that would not have drawn me but Harvard did. I went on that bus trip with two friends....spent an evening at the pub that JFK was said to spend his time at....caused havoc at the dorms that we stayed in....and came home. I saw Love Story while on R&R in Sydney....because it revolves around Harvard. 
                Elvis was my big passion as a kid. I sent him a letter....and got a response from Col. Tom Parker's secretary. I can probably sing along with every one of Elvis's movie songs....right up to 1964's Roustabout....which had a song called....Poison Ivy League. I could sing every word to you now. Are you thrilled with the exciting life that I led.....hello....are you still there?
                Anyway....as you are aware of....there are protests at a number of Ivy League schools. Don't let them fool you....these are not....'let the killing stop'.....protests.....but....'let the killing begin'.....rallies. 
                Ivy was a prominent plant in Palestine....used in wreaths....and as described in the apocryphal book of Maccabees....a plant that the Jews had to wear....in the temple....to honor the Greek god Dionysius....(Bacchus to the Romans.)  It's has been called a....a climbing plant....that strangles everything that it entwines itself around. 
                My wife and I took a trip last July to Princeton University....another Ivy....and probably the most prominent today....of which Jonathan Edwards was once its president....and is buried right there in the town cemetery.
                No....the Ivies are not what they once were. In fact they are the opposite. In 2001 my wife and son and I were in England....and took the train for a day trip to Cambridge. I remember walking into Emmanuel College....where John Harvard attended....turning to my left....and while walking up the steps to the second floor....there on the landing....was a statue of Buddha! 

Precious Metal Detecting

                A man came up to our door a few days ago with a request. As the day progressed I got to know him a little.....he's a man with a number of very interesting hobbies.....one of which was that he used a very elaborate metal detector to search historic areas for artifacts.....coins or relics or anything from the past that may have lay hidden for even more than a century. He asked if we might give him permission to use his metal detector in our yard. Yes he would dig....but then restore the sod. 
                Well I'm interested in artifacts also.....things that other people find. One of my prized possessions is a small cross that was found long ago on Pickett's Charge on the Gettysburg battlefield. I've often just looked at it and wondered about that scene where the small cross was either dropped or ripped off the man's body.
                So I watched the metal detecting process....and listened as he explained how it all works.....even wondering if I should get my own detector. Actually I already have one from long ago but it is not nearly powerful enough to find anything not laying in the grass. So he did find about a dozen coins....pennies a dime and a nickel....and a button....and an 1883 Indian Head Penny....(Awesome!....as our son described it)....which he cleaned up and is giving to us! So it was a good day....with a new friend made.
                 I have my hobbies....most of which involve reading. The JFK assassination would be one. I have never gotten over the implications of that day. The Titanic would be another....and the Civil War another....and Vietnam another....there are more.
                 All of these hobbies are recurring....one after another....year after year....decade after decade....wherever my mind might go....but none of them....not all of them combined....come anywhere near my....on a daily basis....pouring through the written helps of others....on the treasures that are literally everywhere....detecting them myself.....sifting and cleaning....and putting under a magnifying glass....the gold and silver and precious metals found....not in a yard....but on a battlefield....the history of man and this world....written for us to find....by the Creator of the universe Himself....and put in a book....the Bible....or the....Holy Bible as it has so accurately and wonderfully described!
                 This isn't what would be called a hobby....no more than breathing or eating would be called hobbies....but I want to share one thing that I found. Oh others have found the same thing....but I found it also. It had been lying deep in the ground until God wanted it to come to the surface....for use. When you first find it....it's hard to even recognize what it is....and has to be put under a magnifying glass....and be gently cleaned up and polished....and then there it is in pristine condition!
                  Let me digress just a little bit. One of the headlines at the top of the Drudge Report right now.....concerning the horrifying tornadoes that ripped through Nebraska and Iowa yesterday....is....WARNINGS WORKED! I sat in front of The Weather Channel last evening....for the radar is so exact that these experts could tell what small community might be hit....and in so many minutes! May I remind all of us that Jesus rebuked the Pharisees....this in Matthew 16:3...."You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times."
                  Folks....just as the science of meteorology has become more precise....so are the veils being lifted on God's Word. The warnings are now easy to see and discern if we would but look! The whirlwind is here....and gaining intensity. The debris is flying everywhere....but here is a problem embedded deep within man....that needs to be detected and warned of....as we might watch a video of a funnel cloud....(as I did this morning)....destroying whatever is in its path....and then the funnel dissipated....and we go about our day as usual. The coming whirlwind of God's wrath is not something that we will watch go by and dissipate! 

Tuesdays With Special Dog

Preface: I don't usually do two....Tuesdays With Special Dog....posts so close together. There is a recent one just a few days ago. This is another conversational post about two men....Special Dog and John....who meet monthly at a Manhattan Starbucks to talk and fellowship....but in this one they are in for a little of the unexpected:

Special Dog and John were enjoying the sunny and warm day....sitting at tables outside of a Manhattan Starbucks.....fellowshiping.....and just enjoying each other's company in their monthly get together. It seemed that most of the retail businesses were celebrating Spring with flowers in urns on the sidewalks or baskets hanging from their awnings. The sun was reflecting gorgeous blue beams off of the glass and steel skyscraper directly across the street. A white van had pulled up in front of them....with an array of antennas on top of it....it was a news van of one of New York City's television stations. Both John and Special Dog wondered what news story they were pursuing. It only took a minute or two for an attractive lady to fiddle with a microphone as a man hoisted camera straps over his shoulders....as Special Dog thought to himself.....

S. D.    (Please don't point that thing at me!)

The woman went up to a couple seated at the end table....put the mic up close to a patron....and asked a question that Special Dog could not hear.

S.D......(Please God....don't have them come up to us!)

A minute or two later the lady reporter moved closer to another table with a woman sitting by herself....with the same routine. This time Special Dog could at least hear the question asked of the patron...."And how do you feel as to where America is going right now? Are we on the right course?" The woman's answer was hard to discern but it was something like...."We need to put our attention back on America gain....on our own troubles." Special Dog was sweating....

S.D....."Oh Lord....don't let her come up to us....give us an earthquake or something!"

If John were not present Special Dog would have laid a few dollars down on the table and been long gone. John was saying something but Special Dog was only focusing on the approaching reporter.....who asked the same question of a man sitting alone....whose answer to the same question was...."No....we are not going in the right direction.....we need to seriously address the issue of global warming." The reporter then approached and looked directly at John....

S. D......(Thank you Lord!)

....and then turned to Special Dog.....stuck that mic right up to his face.....and said.....

Reporter...."Hi.....I'm.....(so and so.....from WB....something or other).....I have a quick question for New Yorkers....Is America going in the right direction....and what do we need?"

Special Dog was definitely that deer staring into the headlights....but uttered....as a plea for mercy....

Special Dog...."I'm not a New Yorker!"

But that wasn't going to get him out of this....as she kept the mic right up to him. Special Dog prayed....(Why me Lord....I can't speak in public....don't you have an Aaron here somewhere?).....but he paused....and then began....

S. D......"America is one half pagan....and one half asleep. A video of a dog doing something funny can get a million views....but if you can even find a preacher warning us of our idolatry....he'll be laughed at or ignored. One side lives for one purpose....to get God out of everything in America.....the other side just wants to win in November so that they can have their America back....an America that was already was under judgment. We have abandoned everything good that we once stood for. God has given us what we wanted....to be masters of our own fate. His judgments....

The reporter interjected a....'Thank you"....as to move on but Special Dog kept talking...

S.D...."His judgments are everywhere....domestically and internationally....we have had a half century of dire warnings from preachers like Billy Graham but ignored all of it....we are not going to get out of this....there are no more Jonahs giving us forty days....or forty years....no more Jeremiahs pleading with the leaders and the preachers and the people....we only have one option...."

The reporter pulled the microphone back and looked to the next table....for this was a live mid-day broadcast directly to the studio....but before she could step back Special Dog continued...."

S.D....."All of the leaders of this world....and all of their power....that United Nations over there.....will not be able to stand before the coming King of Kings....but the offer is still there as of today.....'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.....turn to Him...."

The reporter stumbled a bit over the leg on John's chair....looked into the camera now facing her....smiled a somewhat crooked smile and said....."Well there you have it.....back to you Tom in the studio!" She and her cameraman were packed up back in the van and gone before Special Dog could even turn his attention to John....who looked as if he were in shock. The van drove off....with a slight squeal of the tires. There was silence from everyone who witnessed this....except for one elderly man at the next table down the line....who slowly got up....came over to Special Dog and said....."I was praying that God would not have them ask me that question....for I am old and as you can see feeble....but He provided you. God bless you....and may someone out there listen to your warnings." With that he moved on.....as Special Dog looked back to John....who was always shy as to praying....but this time he bowed his head and began loud enough for others to hear....

"Dear Lord.....mysterious are your ways.....but wonderful are your decrees! You move as a whirlwind....scattering everything not held down....but leaving that which is embedded in thine own soil. You confounded them today O Lord. You pulled them here as a line pulls in a big fish....and you flayed the meat of their plans. May the ears that are open....have heard and taken heed of your coming judgments....and may we all look to Thee if this dust now choking us settles....knowing that they will say....."Finally....peace and security"....a sure sign for us to look up....and see our redemption approaching!"

John had never spoken like that. Both men knew that God was now beginning to speak through the most unlikely of vessels. They stood....hugged....started to walk away....both turned back for one last wave....both pointed up to the heavens....as a dark cloud was just beginning to appear.....and some wind!



 

Two Past Posts On......Expecting The......Unexpected

The first post here was December 22 of 2018.....as the economy was taking off....and we were boasting that our best is yet to come.....and before the pandemic or January 6 of 2021. The second post here was first posted on January 5 of 2023. The essence of it is that the 'unexpected' is going to come....and it is going to be devastating....and if we remain as we are right now....we are not going to be ready....and we are going to be in chaos....and we will therefore make wrong decisions. We are an army....and we are soldiers....but in respect to training and being ready for a demonic attack and deception....we are lackadaisical....unconcerned....and anything but vigilant. I cannot emphasize too much....or warn too much....that our hope is only in Christ! 

Expect The Unexpected.....December 2018

               Expect the unexpected. It's really a profound thought. Oscar Wilde used it once and probably many other people. Now if the phrase was just advising one to always be aware that the unexpected could happen it would be one thing....but it's not saying that....for it's saying....expect....or actually believe that the unexpected will happen. Wow....that can boggle the mind if you really think about it.
              OK let's go a little further with this. You have a plan....on anything....this should happen....and that should then happen....and if these things happen then you are confident that your plan will work....(plan your work....work your plan.) But this is altogether different. One is being advised to actually expect something that is not expected and maybe not even considered as a possibility.
              Let me see if I can come up with an example....OK I've got one....I actually wrote a post about it a few years ago. A young newlywed couple's plans are coming along just fine.  The young man completed college to get that degree and has a good job and then they were married. Their ultimate goal is to buy a nice little house and have a couple of kids....and maybe a little dog....but then December 7th, 1941 came along and all of those plans were put on hold if they would ever even come about.
              The closest thing that I can think about where the Bible mentions something like this would be in that monumentally prophetic 24th chapter of Matthew....."If anyone tells you then, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'Over here!' do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note: I (JESUS) have told you in advance." I chose the Holman Christian Standard Bible for this for or it uses the word 'Messiah' rather than 'Christ.'
              Friends, this chapter....along with Mark 13 and Luke 21 where Jesus answers the question...."Tell us when will these things be.."....these chapters were indeed for everyone from the day that they were written to today.....but they are especially relevant for us today....for we are in that day where the nearness of the return of Christ is so close that false messiahs and false prophets are....and have been for quite a while....literally everywhere.
              Expect the unexpected....[be ready for]....false messiahs and false prophets....hold everything....everything up to Scripture....be vigilant and more than leery of great signs and wonders should they come about....for anyone can be "led astray....if possible, even the elect."

Things Will Not Go As We Expect Them To Go....January 5, 2023

                This we are familiar with....at the Passover supper Jesus told Peter that he....Peter....was in danger of temptation but that He....Jesus....had prayed for him. We know that Peter then said....with supreme confidence...."Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Everyone is familiar with how Jesus responded to Peter in that before the rooster would crow in the morning that Peter would deny Him three times....and we know what happened in the morning. Cut and dried right? We know everything here that we need to know.
                 Well there is more. All four gospels tell us how on the Mount of Olives that night....as the mob came for Jesus....one of the disciples cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. John was the only gospel writer to identify Peter as the one with the sword. It seems that Peter's boast of going to prison and even to death with Jesus was pretty sound up to then. So what happened between the time they took Jesus....and before the rooster crowed? 
                 This is not insignificant.....nor trivial....I do not believe....for this principle will directly affect many of us....in one way and to one degree or another.....probably in the near future. Something collapsed in Peter as he saw Jesus led away. All the evidence of miracles and power from the previous three years suddenly disappeared. This was not going according to plan. There were surprises. Peter began to unravel and then came completely undone. 
                 We today think that we know it all as to what will happen in that which is called....the Tribulation....maybe not all the specifics.....but we know that it will be so bad that our own family members may be against us. We are humble to a certain degree....for we know that we will need the Holy Spirit to stay strong....but here it is folks....just like with Peter there will be surprises.....and things will not go according to our plans! 
                 We need to be prepared for whatever it is that comes against us at that time....that it will be worse than we thought....that confusion will reign because of it....and that we...."if possible even the elect"....will be in danger of coming completely undone just as Peter did! It is not enough to boldly proclaim that Jesus will hold on to us.....if we have not shown any concern at all over His coming....nor His warnings. That would be an extreme....and even absurd presumption.
                 We have been warned to be vigilant a number of times in God's Word....and we in effect blow the warning off every time.....for we do not think that Jesus is coming back right now. We don't even want to talk about it. For if we did.....if we even leaned that way....we would at least attempt to become a people separated once again....and right now that is too much to ask.
                 Peter was taken by surprise....and if we are not sober-minded and vigilant.....then we also will be taken by surprise. We are knowledgeable of Peter's weaknesses during the ministry of Jesus....but we tend to acknowledge those weaknesses a little bit to easily....rather than having the fear of God instilled in us in seeing how frail we can be.            

We Need This Film....And We Need To Revisit This Book

Preface: I posted five times last August on this one topic....and the post below is from October 2....less than a week before the terrorists attacks in Israel! A screenplay was written on the classic book The Hiding Place....the play was performed on a stage in Nashville....they filmed the play and turned it into a movie of the same title...,for a two-day showing only! I was blown away by the film.....and had great hopes for it being available to the American public....but it never really happened. It is available to watch but you have to work for it. I wish that I could give you better directions to watching this film but I don't do this stuff....renting or streaming from commercial outlets. All I can tell you is that if your heart is with Israel and Jewish people everywhere right now....because the horrors of the Holocaust mentality is alive and cultivating in this fallen world....and this even at the time of Passover....then you will be able to stream this film! 

We Need This Film.....And We Need To Revisit This Book.....October 2, 2023

The following is the first paragraph from the first post....The Silence Before The Thunderbolt

             "There's no way to give a warning on this.....but I kind of wish that I had one all the same. The film only has a two day showing....two days ago.....Thursday....and today. So it's too late now....but if it does come back....I would give this warning.....prepare to be shredded....in your innermost Christian being. It is that powerful! It is a two and a half hour film.....of a play....staged in front of an audience.....in Nashville."

                  The following was from the second post....The Most Beautiful....Bleakness....as  I described the bleak settings as....beautiful....

                  "The father....Casper Ten Boom....standing up to say grace over a modest meal....with Jewish people that he was hiding from the Nazis around the table....yes that was a grand vista. The faith amidst the persecution....and the prayers....and the pleadings....and the cries....and the tears....were raindrops....the sun [Son] causing them to almost twinkle. The deaths were as lightning white chariots led by magnificent steads....as they carried the souls to the city of streets paved with gold. And the ending....a miracle where Corrie is 'mistakenly' freed....as Joseph was released from the prison....or Jeremiah pulled from the pit....or Peter walking out of the jail with everyone asleep....freed to wander the whole world and tell of her family's faith in Jesus Christ and the Word of God!...freed to move me....forty years ago....with simple devotional books....the last thing one would expect me to be reading!"

The following from the third post...."And Behold I Am With You Always, To The End Of The Age."

                 "We terribly need the message from this stage play/film The Hiding Place....and we need it now! We need to see Casper Ten Boom's dissatisfaction with the preaching in his country. We need to see him stand up from the table to thank God for the food in front of him! We need to see the thankfulness over the simple delicacy of marmalade....or a cup of tea....or potted flowers....for the day is coming when we will yearn for a taste of butter....or a piece of fruit! We need to see the treasure of that small Bible on a chain around Corrie's neck. We need to see God's glory manifested in people like the Ten Booms. We need warned of what is ahead....and we need to know that Christ will be with us through it all." 

The following is from the fourth post...."Who Or What Is It That....Lights Your Fire?"

                 "We need this film folks. We need to see what we may be about to go through. We need to....as Jeremiah wrote...."Stand by the roads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls." (Jeremiah 6:16)  The Hiding Place....can help. This family....the Ten Booms....could have lived out their life....ignoring the war all around them....and simply come out in the light at the end of the war....to resume that life.  The war that is all around us is spiritual....not political. It is the attack on the gospel and not the culture that should consume us. It is the Word and not Wordle that we should wake up to....and it is Isaiah and Jeremiah and Daniel and Paul and Peter and John that should fill our minds before we sleep....not Fox cable. It's the Psalms that should light a fire of devotion in us....not talk radio.

And this was the fifth post...."God Is Love....God Is Just....The Lord Is Returning. The post is about the 1971 book....The Hiding Place....written by Elizabeth and John Sherrill from first hand accounts of Corrie Ten Boom

                "Just about everyone my age read this book back in the 1980s. We're more into talk radio and Fox news today. This is the fifth post in a week on The Hiding Place....the first four on the new stage-filmed movie of the same name...this post is on the book. Please let me offer some advice if you do go out tomorrow and buy the book....(time is short folks....make every day count)....do not read this for the historical content alone. That in itself will humble you....but as you read....consider this family and their Christian faith....and the glorious God that they serve....for that is where the real nourishment is! I wanted to add at least one anecdote from the book. Here is the setting....May of 1940....the Dutch prime minister was giving a major address to the nation. War was raging....but not in Holland...."there was nothing to fear....Holland would remain neutral"....promised the nation's leader. "Sonorous and soothing" were two words used by Corrie Ten Boom to describe what they heard on the radio....but then Casper....who was the most mild-mannered and humble Christian you could ever imagine.....with fire in his eyes that Corrie had never seen before....jumped up and turned off the radio....calmed down....and told his family this...."It is wrong to give people hope when there is no hope. It is wrong to base faith upon wishes. There will be war. The Germans will attack and we will fall." Five hours after the prime minister's speech....the bombs were falling close enough that the Ten Boom family could hear explosions and see the red sky! Our pulpits today preach the same....soothing message."

Pagans vs. Hell's Angels

        It was quite a few years ago....I was just beginning to ask Siri something on my iPhone....when my wife said goodbye on her way to work....I shouted out to her...."When are you getting off"....of which Siri hearing this answered...."We are talking about you Special Dog....not me!" I don't know what she was thinking....but we get along fine now....better than that woman in the car GPS who keeps getting exasperated saying...."Recalculating." 

                We evangelicals in this modern age have made some grave miscalculations. We all just said that yes we believe in Jesus....so we must be Christian....and we went back to whatever we were doing....easy decision right....no cost....no...."Come out from among them."
                Jesus addressed this in a parable. He asked who out there would start to build a tower....without first calculating the cost? Well that's what we have done. Pastors seldom if ever offer the information on how much it would cost....because they have no idea themselves....and we never asked.
                The Democrat Party has been pagan for quite a while....but when did we....their nemesis....become hell's angels? Folks....when you help someone like Putin throw people off buildings and murder with the worst of dictators....and threaten nuclear war.....threaten nuclear war....and you don't want to help any other nation because you are the only thing that matters in the world....and when people like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson have become your leaders....and you blindly follow someone like Trump....then hell's angels is a shoe that fits. We in the church need to do some serious recalculating....on just about everything.

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." 2 Corinthians 11: 12-15

"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." Galatians 1:8

Note: It's another morning watching over an elderly loved one. I have posted a number of times on how extremely difficult it is to watch them pass their last years on the morning live television shows....when unbeknownst to them our glorious and wonderful Savior and King beckons all to feast on the joys of who He is! Today is in a way a double whammy....in that the horror of the evening true crime show....invades the already intellectually dystopian morning offerings. These shows....such as 20/20 and Dateline....(there are literally dozens of these type of shows on literally hundreds of television stations)....these shows grab our heart and our mind for an hour....filling us with great detailed murders and rapes.....and we watch....bewitched by the evil. Pew reported that twice as many women are lured into this than men. We have no idea how it affects us....and drags us down into the muck and the mire or the evil of this world.

Complicating further this situation with our elderly loved ones....we have the natural tendency to look at them in their weakened physical state and their diminished mental state....and if they have never shown signs....as best as we humanly can tell....of having been born again....then we seem to give up on that hope....but more than give up actually....in our 'love' for them....we take it upon ourselves to change the gospel. What was the Apostle John like in his old age....or Abraham or Moses or David? 100 Huntley Street was a Canadian....700 Club....back in the 80s....(It is still on the air)....and back then I saw a 95 year old man....this was probably the early 80s....and he stood there as I remember....his eyes shining in his love for God's Word....and told the audience how the Bible gets only stronger and more wonderful as the decades roll on! I have never forgotten that....and I hope that I never do. Combine that with those who are aged who I have known personally....some for over forty years....who are as devoted to their Savior as they had ever been....if not more. One of the bigger challenges that we face is in thinking about our loved ones...particularly parents....who may have long since died....and we never saw evidence of salvation in them. We want to fight this....and maybe argue with God. What all of this boils down to is that love for anyone....stranger or elderly parent or child....should first show in our concern they they know Christ! Folks....I loved my father....and think about him often. He died in 1979....before I knew the gospel....and my only hope is that someone in that hospital reached him for Christ. With my mother who died ten years ago....I told her of Christ for over thirty years....and I do have a hope from her last few years. We do not have the right to change the gospel....and we have the responsibility to hold it fast in the absolute truth that it is.

The Glory Has Long Since Departed

                I woke up and looked over at the clock....3 a.m....this a Lord's Day morning....it is not an unusual occurrence....so I began a short prayer for the men who will be entering pulpits 6 and 7 hours from now....."Lord I pray that Thy Holy Spirit will not let Thy shepherds sleep this night either....that they might be tossing and turning over what to say to their sheep in the morning....and that words might come out of their mouth that neither they nor their congregations expect." That is a weekly prayer of mine.
                So as I lay there my mind wandered and came to something that happened to me a few days ago. I was in a situation....watching an elderly loved one....oh about 9 or 10 in the morning....where I could not avoid hearing a television that was on. I tried my best to ignore it but heard the word....'Christian'....so I purposely focused in for a minute. It was one of those morning live broadcasts. I will come back to this but first I have to go back quite a few years....
                David Wilkerson told this story. Out of curiosity he went to a concert of the most popular Christian woman singer of the day and was horrified at what he saw. Folks this was probably back in the 80s! The singer's husband was playing the guitar....and had a rose clenched in his teeth. I know this experience of Wilkerson's to be true for I was also at one of this singer's concerts....and apparently her husband often played the guitar with a rose clenched in his teeth. You would have to be familiar with David Wilkerson to understand this....but he said that he saw demons on the stage....and ran up the aisle yelling....Ichabod....Ichabod....the glory has departed!
                Let me now go back only about 10 years.....where I read an article on the most popular Christian woman singer of the day....I can't even remember her name. The article described beliefs that she had and sang about that....(what word should I use.....we can't use the word 'heresy' today....no one really has to be born again anymore).....that were opposite of what God's Word proclaims to us.
                Now let me go back to that morning television show a few days ago. The young singer was absolutely beaming for being on the show....a show that she watched her whole life....she was so honored! This is one of the shows that I have posted on at times....where while watching that same elderly family member....I have no choice but to listen....and it always makes me want to cry....literally break down....for all of the nonsense and celebrity idolatry worship that is the essence of these shows that keep people in bondage! This Christian singer then played her music. I didn't have an aisle to run down.....and I wouldn't have the courage to do it anyway....but the word went through my mind.....Ichabod....the glory is long....long gone from the evangelical church of today! Lord have mercy on all of us for Thy name's sake...if it be Thy will.
  

Thank You Lord For The Winds That Warn Us Of The Approaching Storm

Preface:  The following was first posted on May 28....2023....and I bring it back as my Lord Day post:

            Our pastor began his sermon as he stepped into the pulpit by thanking God for the gorgeous day. Probably nine out of ten pastors in Western Pennsylvania began their message with that comment. There is nothing wrong with it....in fact thanking God for his blessing in the weather is wonderful....and I have said the same thing many times....but today the words hit me a little bit differently. My thought was that I would rather have had a windy day....with cloud cover....and ominous darker clouds on the horizon. I would rather see the brothers and sisters in Christ hurrying from car to church....grasping more firmly the hands of their children and anything they might be carrying....and only upon coming through the door of the sanctuary breathing a sigh of relief and thanking God for the reprieve of being in the church. The 'gorgeous' day....with the Antichrist plotting even as I type....and the world barely holding sway against world war....and the church of Jesus Christ....so many of us....thinking about their days activities as they sit in the pew....in these troublesome times we do not benefit from a....'gorgeous' day. I would rather the pastor have the opportunity to  begin with....'Thank you Lord for the winds that warn us of the approaching storm....and the reminder that only in Christ is their shelter from that storm.' 

 

PESACH

                A leap year in the Jewish calendar has an extra month....and it is labeled as....Adar II....which follows....Adar I....and has 29 days. 2024 is a leap year in both the Jewish and the Julian calendars. The recent solar eclipse of the sun that occured on Monday April 8....was the last day of Adar II. The Jewish month of Nisan began on our Tuesday April 9....and the 8 day Passover celebration begins on the 15th of Nissan....April 23 to us.....but in the Hebraic tradition actually begins the previous sunset....which would be our April 22.
              So Pesach as it is called.....pronounced pay-sah I believe....the Passover celebration....begins on the 23rd outside of Israel....and ends on nightfall of the 30th. Two Seder feasts are celebrated....one at the beginning of the Passover....and one at the end.
              An Israeli official yesterday said that any response to Iran would wait till after Passover. Sounds reasonable right? Well there was an obvious reason for that....as the response came yesterday. In God's providence....at the most dangerous time in the new state of Israel's history....their strong ally....the United States....is literally being torn apart from within. 
              When the Israelites first came up to the boundaries of the Promised Land....twelve representatives....one from every tribe.....kind of like our Senate with two from every state....whether a big or small state....twelve men were sent to spy out the land. The people were called to have faith in the God whom they had witnessed work continuous miracles with them. They were called to believe.  They did not.....and God.....(and this shakes me up when I read it)....God sent them off to the wilderness for forty years....and told Moses not even to bring up the situation....and then.....because of the people.....God wouldn't even let Moses cross the Jordan. Does that not humble you as it does me?
              God is in effect telling us to get ready to enter the Promised Land....but we would rather stay here and make America great again. Have we not been as in the wilderness for forty years? Israel itself is about to come to that moment when they will be forced to actually look to the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob....and Moses and David and the prophets. Paul's prayers will be answered....as many Jews swill see and believe in the Messiah whom they themselves pierced....just as all of us....you hopefully and me....know that our sins also put Jesus on the cross. Passover should remind us of what was happening at that Passover meal with Jesus and the Apostles....and later on Calvary....and then in that tomb....followed by that upper room....and later as Jesus arose in the clouds....in the same way they He will return. Maranatha....Come Lord Jesus!

               

'Pick Up And Read'.....And...."Resolve To Listen'

                My wife and I have been book people over our entire marriage. She was a librarian....and we owned a Christian bookstore for a few years.....We met while working together at Pitt's library...and I have distributed well over a thousand Christian books and Bibles over the years. These four men alone.....R. C. Sproul and John MacArthur and Michael Horton and John Piper have written many books that I have often posted on and purchased just to give to friends....and of course there is John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress....that wonderful book that Charles Spurgeon said that he had read a hundred times. A hundred times! Can you imagine that? 
                 As wonderful as books can be....and so very helpful....and powerful....Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands A Verdict had an enormous effect on my conversion....as beneficial as they are....there is absolutely....positively....no comparison whatsoever to the written Word of God. If we....even evangelicals....fully understood that which we readily attest to....that this is God's very words to us....it would be read and reread every day of our lives. I should have marked the date down back then when I resolved....to use Jonathan Edward's favorite word.....resolved to read God's Word every single day of my life....Lord willing....and so far He has....for it has been I believe about three and a half years now. Nothing as of yet....not eyes that I can barely keep open....or emergencies of various sorts....have kept me from going to God's Word every day.
                 Having said that....here is the difficult analogy that I'll attempt.....and it has been the topic of quite a few posts as of late....as it concerns preaching. There is preaching where God's Holy Spirit is bringing down the glory of God to the congregation....a means of grace as we know it to be....and there is preaching that may be useful....and even at times wonderful....as those great books by those men that I mentioned....but as beneficial as they might be at times...."there is absolutely....positively....no comparison whatsoever to"....the preaching of the man in the pulpit....when God's Spirit is upon him.
                 I want to keep this short....so....read all the wonderful Christian books....much of my life is based on encouraging this....and go to your regular church....be loving and attentive to what that man is trying to do....but you will drift off and possibly flounder....and lack discernment on many things....and not realize the nearness of the return of our King....and not be able to warn others of the need to be born again....if you are not fed the glory of God....humiliation and mortification....resulting in true joy and David's passion of praise.
                There is only one way to find out if I know what I am talking about. You would have to....resolve....to use that wonderful word again....to resolve to find these men....either those with us today....or those who God has blessed His church with in times past even up to today....and incorporate these sermons into your life. It may be that I am as fanatical on this as I am because I have also resolved to listen to God's Word preached every day of my life. You need properly fed! America is today....in large part....because our pulpits have fallen asleep....with these exceptions like Sproul and MacArthur and Horton and Piper....and many other men who preach as they do....few and far between as they are. So yes....as Augustine did....'pick up and read'.....God's Word....and....resolve to listen....to men who did....pick up and read!

Note: Have you watched C. H. Spurgeon, The People's Preacher yet? I've recommended it so many times. I believe that ROKU has it....and you can boot it up on your computer in less than a minute!

"And Seal The Book......Until......The Time Of The End"

                 As a kid raised in Buffalo one of the most exciting days of the year was the annual Westinghouse employee picnic....across the Peace Bridge into Canada....and on to Crystal Beach....with the Comet roller coaster....and all the games....and the water....and the cotton candy. The worst thing that ever happened was that my dad lost his hat and bit his tongue coming down the Comet's big drop.
                The Western Electric Company had a similar employees picnic day. It was in 1915....and five steamers were contracted to take the thousands of people about 35 miles out of Chicago across Lake Michigan....but tragedy struck. Over two-thousand people loaded the first steamer....and the people....probably so that they could wave to those on the dock....crowded to one side....the steamer began to rock....and capsized.....with 844 lives lost....including dozens of whole families and many young children.
                Twelve years later a tour boat left the Chicago dock....once again mostly women and children....and a sudden squall came up. The people crowded on one side to get out of the driving rain....and the tour boat capsized. Sixteen children....ten women....and one man drowned.
                You may never of heard this....even if you are a World War II reader....but in December of 1944....three United States Navy destroyers capsized and sank....in a typhoon in the Philippine Sea. Admiral Halsey had received bad weather information and made an equally bad decision sending the task force into the center of the typhoon. Loss of life was 790. Some ships....low on fuel at this time....pumped sea water into the fuel tanks to keep from capsizing. Damage to the task force was extensive....with carrier planes sliding off the deck....and others ramming into the conning tower causing explosions.
                From man taking flight....to transportation to medicine....to communication to splitting the atom.....to artificial intelligence....we have gained much but we seemed to have have lost the perspective on human life as our knowledge increased. The words to Daniel in chapter 12 verse 4 sum it all up best...."But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."  
                Did you notice the word....until.....used here as a conjunction between the sealing of the book....and the time of the end. As 'knowledge' has overtaken us....and we generally have become blinded by our own perceived glory....so have veils been taken off God's prophetic word....to those who desire to see the return of our Lord Jesus Christ....to this world spinning out of control.
                I spent most of today.....since waking up early this morning....dabbing my right eye....from a stye that developed overnight. I had a three hour conversation with a Christian friend and it was hard to concentrate. In our area we had a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warming this evening....but I had trouble even finding The Weather Channel....as I struggled to find the right buttons on the remote. Only within the past hour has my eye begun to clear up....and I've I been able to open my computer and type.
               As I typed that last sentence....a Charles Spurgeon sermon that I recently recommended came to my mind....on the topic of being blinded to the things of God....and I find it a fitting way to conclude this post. You can easily listen to it by Googling....Spurgeon sermon YouTube....Blinded By Satan.

                                                           

"What Has Been Is What Will Be, And What Has Been Done Is What Will Be Done, And There Is Nothing New Under The Sun."

               We in America are on the cusp of...what word should I use....chaos just doesn't do it....for we have been in chaos for years....pandemonium....mayhem....bedlam? How about anarchy or revolution....or worse? Madness fits. Let me digress....
               Let's go back to Petrograd in 1917....a tsar....and people who do not like the tsar....a revolution of sorts in February....and a smaller group who do not like the tsar or anybody else....the Bolsheviks....another revolution....let's murder the tsar and his family....and then let's put the world through hell for seventy years....and then lets do it again!
               Or let's go back to Berlin 1933....a government....people who do not like the government....a revolution of sorts....and a smaller group that does not like anybody else....particularly the Jews....the Sturmabteilung.....or the Brownshirts....another revolution of sorts.....and let's put the world through hell for seven years or so....and there are those today saying....let's do it again!
                I am not referring to either of these ideologies here. There is a time for that but not now. I'm referring to two nations that lost control of everything.  Solzhenitsyn had an answer for why it happened in Russia...."We forgot God." Bonhoeffer had an answer for what happened in Germany...."Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God."
                That is what happened to us today.....we forgot God. They were singing Christian hymns in the streets of the February revolution in Petrograd....while the other side sang their hymns in church....but all that soon stopped....and they continued to sing their hymns in the German church.....for a while. They didn't forget that there was God....they just forgot who He was. We haven't forgot that there is God....we can sing with the best of them....we just likewise forgot who He is....and because we forgot who He is....we cannot see the full extent of the madness!
                 I wrote a post only sixteen days ago....(it's seems like months ago).....that I titled....It's Becoming Obvious That The Center Will Not Hold. In that post was this....
               
            "So the initial reports of the collapse of society are that of political divisions....of an extreme left....and an extreme right....but the eyewitness reports are pouring in....along with videos and statistics....and it is becoming obvious that the center will not hold. God's Word tells us to flee immediately....to follow the straight path....to the higher ground....do not linger or look back....call others to join you on your way to the Celestial City....shine the light of the Word onto the path in the darkness....in 'fear and trembling'....yet not timid....but with confidence in the Lord....all the while....'addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ'."

Ephesians 5:19-20

Post title....Ecclesiastes 1:9

                
 

Even Jack Nicklaus Went Back To His First Teacher To Begin Every Year!

                This is probably one of these posts where the reader really roles their eyes. You can't make this stuff up folks. I came into the house for a break from mowing the lawn....and I Googled....60's Instrumentals....just for some music to listen to while I closed my eyes....and I did listen for ten or fifteen minutes. I'm sure you are familiar with this....below the selection....(I'm on an iPhone).....are other website offerings....and the one directly below the one I was listening to do was the popular television show....American Idol.
                I'm trying to go a little slow here....for I don't want you to leave right away. I clicked on it....and watched about five or six.....contestants....and then walked away with the intention of continuing with yard work....but it nagged at me.
                I came back in and had to Wikipedia American Idol. I take it that there were twenty-two seasons of this. Is it still on? I guess that it is. I watched the four judges....Simon....I've seen his face in the news a lot....and three others who I did not recognize. I do understand that the judges have changed often. OK....Wikipedia says this..."It holds the distinction of having the longest winning streak in the Nielsen annual television ratings."
                I am being somewhat facetious here....I know that it will sound absolutely ridiculous....but there is a dark truth somewhere in what I am going to say. When I watched this twenty or so minutes....and saw the crowd reaction....and actually thought about the concept of this television show....something that I had never done before....as I never saw the show in all twenty-two seasons....just like I never saw a minute of....The Apprentice....in its long run....I saw one glaring reason why Americans....(most Americans).... can no longer think seriously....or analyse....and therefore why they are so easily taken in.
                 Neil Postman was the professional folks....the academic....I'm just a ploughboy....but I read his book way back....along with Marshall McLuhan and others. Folks there were at least a half dozen books in the 90s alone....on retail bookshelves....actually bought read....they paid real money for them....where they could have been reading Clive Cussler.....(I just picked that name out of the blue)....that blew the trumpet in warning about where the culture was going....as far as becoming meaningless and easy marks for anyone with a twinkling lure.
                 I really didn't need to write this post. It's just that it is so sad to see what occupies our minds and fills up our schedules today. By the way....as always I'm listening to some sermon while cutting the grass or doing other errands....using my headphones....from as I always describe it as...."preachers from the past....or preachers today who preach like preachers of the past." Today it was Spurgeon....and the sermon title was....Three Sights Worth Seeing....but one comment sticks in my mind....as he described why pastors....(this in his day but it the same or worse today)....why they were not seeing conversions. (real conversions folks....born again conversions....not just recruits for the megachurch.) It was a simple little statement as he said that the pastor cannot fill the cups of the people with water....until he first fills the pitcher he is holding.
                  That is a water pitcher....but let me use the word as it relates to a baseball pitcher. I have tried many times over the years to encourage pastors to go back and listen to the great preachers of the past....that they might glean from them and understand why they are considered great preachers....and what they themselves might be missing...take the time and listen to Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones....listen to John Piper if they don't have too much pride to seek help from others....and as far as I can tell....I have struck out every single time! They simply do not want any advice....even from teachers that God had blessed so extraordinarily....they're not going back to being a student again....but I would bet....if I were a betting person....which I am not....that they watched more than their fill of....American Idol....over these past twenty-two years....along with having a conversational knowledge of every professional sports team from their city or the closest city to them!

"THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS"

                As we evangelicals look....look and tremble actually....at the political climate in America today....I would ask them to consider Gideon. The Israelites were so under the thumb of the Midianites that many were carving holes in the rocks of the mountains to at least be safe. Please read of Gideon in Judges 6-8!
               We all know the story....the Angel of the LORD appeared to that young and insignificant Gideon and told him that he was going to lead the people in ridding themselves of the Midianites. We are familiar with how Gideon wanted a sign to make sure that what he was hearing was true....so we see the two evenings with the fleece....and then the Lord turned the testing around.
               Gideon started with 32,000 men....then God pared that down to 10,000....and then to the 300 that we are most familiar with. We do know why God did this do we not. Had God given the victory with 32,000 men....or even 10,000....the Israelites would have been tempted to think that their own might and power had defeated the enemy. This cannot be emphasized too much or too often! There were others examples of where God had to do odd things so that the Israelites knew that the victories were not because of their own power! Moses would be one example....whereas the Israelites would be winning the battle when Moses raised his arms....but they would begin to lose if he lowered them. Someone eventually had to hold his arms up! How long do you think that you could stand with your arms raised. I might go twenty minutes.
               Folks....the 32,000 men point to our misguided dependence on Donald Trump....and the MAGA movement. God is telling us no! Pare the numbers down....10,000 is still too much. Get rid of all these podcasters and radio talk show and Fox cable hosts. Get rid of them all as to where our trust is! Read if you will....the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah...."Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep"...."I will set shepherd's over them (the people) who will feed them."...."Both the prophet and the priest are profane"...."They prophesied by Baal"...."They speak a vision of their own heart".....(We are one glorious nation under God....and the best is yet to come)....."Behold I am against those who prophesy false dreams."
               It's just an odd coincidence but 32,000 Republicans caucused in Iowa in 2020....with 97% voting for Trump. (That's the notation that I came to in researching this) Friends....there is a remnant today....and hopefully you are in that remnant. The odds....as the world would look at it....are terribly against us....but as Jeremiah proclaimed in that 23rd chapter...."THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
               If we just try to make America great again....God will as He has said......just tear it down again. (Is that not what happened with the pandemic?) We had our opportunities to turn to Him.....this for the past fifty years or so....and we did not. Our hope and prayer today should be that God will have mercy upon us His remnant....increases us in size.....not for victories....but that more will shout His praises as He nears!

"I Will Bless Them That Bless You......And Curse Him Who Curses you"

 FLASH ALERT....Just in....students and everyone.....John Piper has a message out on his ministry website....desiringgod.org....that you must listen to. Just go to the website and click on....Divine Judgment and Mercy. This message was preached in 1982! Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.               

                Well it was a bittersweet day....bitter in that the topic of the one-day conference on a Christian college campus was....Confronting Antisemitism....but in a way it was a highlight of my life.

                I'm going to bring back various posts on Israel from after the October 7 Sukkot Invasion attack....as it was described in the conference. It was still the 6th of October here....the last day of Sukkot....when the attacks started in the early morning hours in Israel
                Former Vice President Mike Pence was the main speaker. We arrived in the auditorium a little bit early....with reserved but unnumbered seating. The usher led us down to the first row. I don't think that I have even been in the first row for anything before....other than in church. We had about a forty-five minute wait until the college president and Mike Pence took the stage. At one point I said to my wife that this is where someone comes down to us....apologizing for mistakingly seating us in the first row....and then leading us to the last row. 
                So it was an hour of sitting about eight feet from the former Vice President. Close enough to see any blemishes on his skin that don't show up on television. Note....there were none. This man is truly a wonderful blessing on America....and has been since he entered government. His Christian integrity is abounding. His wisdom is obvious....and his faithfulness to God and to his country is evident for any honest enough to realize it.
                His talk was moving....mostly about what he experienced as he was in Israel shortly after the attacks....talking to Israelis who lived in that area close to the Gaza border. I'll give you just one of the many anecdotes. The Israelis that live in the attack zone....were known for trying to make peace with the people on the other side of the border. They even built a park area for both peoples to enjoy family times. These were the people that Hamas focused their horrors.
                Michael Medved....I had heard him speak before....gave a very informative talk while we all ate lunch....the title of the talk....America And The Abrahamic Advantage. I'm sorry that we had to miss the session with Naomi Schaefer Riley....the title of it....Campus Extremism: The Rise And Consequence Of Antisemitism in Higher Education....I heard that it was wonderful....for I remember how profoundly insightful was her 2011 book....that I read hot of the press....The Faculty Lounges: And Other Reasons Why You Won't Get The College Education You Paid For. The book focused on tenure as the main culprit in the liberal faculties of most of today's colleges and universities. The college where she spoke today is one of the few where there is no tenure.....and in my mind....for decades now.....our son and daughter-in-law graduated from there....is a small Harvard....(or what Harvard once was)....in both academics and beauty.
                 Vice President Pence....(is it wrong to still use that title in respect)....did his very best to stir us up in remembrance of what we were in America....(he may have used the present tense of the verb....are)....and in our obligatory defense of that nation ally.....and as it relates to a people that God has not forgotten. 
                  He spoke calmly and confidently about his Christian faith....emphasizing one verse....it just happened to be the verse that he and his wife had devotions over early this very morning....(Michael Medved used the same biblical verse)....Genesis 12:3....(speaking of Israel)...."I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." (This is the NKJV....I did not pay attention to the translation he used)

Note: My original plan was to bring back all of my posts since October 7 of last year....but there were too many.....so I chose a few.....one of which is from September....before the attacks.

A Film Without Joy

              OK....the new film....Civil War. I was at the second showing....with less than ten people there....although I just saw that the 8:00 showing is just about full. I am in the habit of standing outside the auditorium door until the previews are over....because they always disturb me....except the previews with Christian movies of course.....but I had to go in today because I could not see the screen through the door of this particular auditorium. I had to sit through all  thirty-five minutes of what I consider an assault on the mind. So I was already tense before the main movie started.
              A Breitbart review that just came up today calls it an anti-Trump movie. I didn't get that at all....although you could read that into it if you so desire....a 'Find Waldo' kind of message. It is more an anti-American movie....with anti-Christian overtones. The screenwriter/director is Alex Garland....not to be confused with Merrick Garland our Attorney General. The British born Garland is a self-described atheist....and I believe it. He's a well-known director....apparently considered a good one....but I've never seen any of his previous films. See....I don't go to the movies as much as you might think that I do. I'm very picky.
              In yesterday's post I told about listening to film critic Michael Medved at a college conference on antisemitism. What I didn't say was that at the end of his talk....which was on America's ties to the origin of the state of Israel....he made an off-hand comment that he had just previewed Civil War.....and simply said...."Don't go!" There I was with my tickets already reserved for today....but I see films like this for the same reason that he does....it's what I have to do. I don't know if I would say....don't go....but I would definitely say....be prepared if you do.
              There's not a lot of dialogue other than the main characters who are journalists....or in this case....war correspondents....but it seems like every character in the film uses the F word multiple times. My point here is that I don't think that Alex Garland knows Americans at all. There wasn't one character who you might think ever opens up a Bible....or truly loves his neighbor....any neighbor. There are really no heroes here. Even the journalists seem jaded. This isn't Bernard Fall in his 1961 classic on the early years of the Vietnam War....Street Without Joy.....but....this is a film without joy....none....not even in the hopes of either side.
                There isn't a scent of Christianity in the film or the characters in the film....except one man who was wearing a cross around his neck as he enjoyed getting his picture taking torturing two men.....whoever they were.....for it is hard to identify a lot of the people fighting each other.
                 There were no comments anytime from the audience....during or after the film ended....small as it was. They all seemed bored at the end. Much of the military scenes did not make sense....as there was one where it seemed a brigade sized unit is bivouacked just on the outskirts of our capital....getting ready to attack....and they are all peaceably going about their business....as if this were Lee and Grant's civil war....whereas today if that were the case....one button would be pushed and that brigade would be gone.
                 The film is a study in hate....and it does focus almost entirely on what this particular team of journalists had to do to be around the action. I could make other comments but would have to give spoilers. I'm interested as I'm sure you are....what the general consensus will be....and also what real war journalists might think about the depiction of their profession.
                 The complete divide in our country has been a major concern of mine for well over a decade before I started these posts in 2008. These 3,000-plus posts are littered with that concern. My initial feelings....only a few hours after walking out of the theater....is that if this is meant to be an anti-Trump film....and the main characters....and the winning side....(that's the only spoiler I'll give....one side wins)....are somehow supposed to be the good guys....then this director not only does not know much about Americans....he doesn't know even know what good means.

Addendum: I want to expound a little on one scene mentioned above. Consider this....The journalists come across two men hanging....still alive....for they were...."looters"....thieves. There is another man with a gun. The journalists want to take his picture. He of course complies....relishing the glory of the moment....and asks where he should stand.....they tell him...."in the middle".....of the two thieves. This is the man who is wearing a cross necklace. There is a message here from this atheist director. What do you think it is?

Tuesdays With Special Dog

                I think that I have done about five of these posts titled.....Tuesdays With Special Dog....a play on words from the popular 1997 book.....Tuesdays With Morrie.
                In these posts I have John and Special Dog meeting regularly at a Manhattan Starbucks to talk and fellowship over coffee....except I hate Starbucks coffee....so I drink lattes. 
                In this post I want to do something a little bit different. I have to begin by going back at least fifty years....in a screened in mess hall....just like the one in MASH....only this was in Vietnam. It was my mess hall....and one afternoon I put my tray down on a table....sat down....and sitting across from me was a familiar face.....but who was it. I looked at his name tag....and then back at his face....it was a friend that I had grown up with....and had not seen in over a decade....when we both moved away at the age of twelve. His name was Heath....and he was just passing through. I always liked that name....so I am going to use that true event here....in a similar scenario....as John is not present:

There were no tables left in Starbucks on this Spring morning in Manhattan. Latte in hand....Special Dog spied an empty chair across from a man who was just gazing out the window.

S.D......."Mind if I join you?"
Man......"No"

Special Dog sat down....sipped his latte...and gazed out the window also....but then back to the man across from him who looked familiar....until he couldn't help but ask...

S.D......."I'm sorry....but you look familiar.....could we have met somewhere before?"

Man......"I was wondering the same thing. My name is Heath...Heath..."

Special Dog interrupted him.

S.D........"Heath Jacob! Heath I'm Special Dog!"

The two men got up and embraced and laughed before finally sitting back down.

Heath....."How long has it been S.D."

S.D........"Let me see....fifty years since Pitt? Do you remember the last night....just before you moved to Michigan to manage that restaurant?"

They both laughed almost uncontrollably. The whole Starbucks was looking at them....but they couldn't stop laughing.

S.D....."The bar was elbow to elbow and I....loaded with Budweiser as usual....got in a fight in the crowd.....he started it....and you the bouncer....reached in and grabbed me from behind....carried me outside and dumped me on Forbes Avenue. Then you went in and grabbed the other guy....came out and dumped him on me!" (Folks...this actually happened)

They were laughing again....trying to catch their breath.

Heath......."I had no idea that it was you that I picked up till the next day."

Heath looked around at the crowded Starbucks and said..."You don't have any plans on fighting here do you....cause....'I ain't as good as I once was!"

Tears were coming down Special Dog's face...."What have you been doing for fifty years?"

Heath....."Well....after the restaurant business I was a local golf pro for about forty years until I retired two years ago. I live in South Carolina and I'm here for a golf-con....can't get away from it."

S.D......"And family?"

Heath...."Divorced twice....in the middle of a third. Five boys...eight grandkids. And how about you"

S.D......."OK I'll give it to you as cold hard fact....only actually it is warm and soft. I quit alcohol about three years after you dumped me on Forbes....I got bit in the neck that night....had to go to the doctor....that's why I didn't see you before you left."

He took a long sip of latte....paused....and continued...."I got a job in a coal-fired power plant....started at the bottom....shoveled coal for a few years....but retired from there thirty-seven years later." Heath smiled but Special Dog continued...."I married a wonderful girl....but obviously not too smart....and about ten years after that night in the bar....I saw what I was....and with the help of people put before me....I saw the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ....(pause)....forty years now Heath....and He has continued to have mercy on the lowest of the low. We have one son....married with one son....my parents had one son....we are a family history of one sons. We moved in retirement to Cape Cod....and once a month I take the train here to Manhattan to meet another old friend from Pitt. It takes the whole day but we have great fellowship. He had a death in family yesterday....and that's why I'm  here alone.

Heath took that short synopsis in and said...."I'm glad to hear all that." And attempting to change the subject...."Do you golf?"

S.D......"Yes....I'm a scratch golfer....after every swing I scratch my head?"

They laughed.

Heath......."I can fix that! But not today....I am giving a presentation at the golf-con in about.....(he looked at this watch)...."in about thirty-five minutes."

Special Dog prayed for the words to say as this conversation was about to end.

S.D......"Heath....on your life swing....I can fix that! I can't carry you out but Jesus Christ can....and will....if you but give people a chance to talk to you."

Heath...."Huh! I was really dreading coming here to New York this time. I was crossing the street and felt a tug to turn and have a quick coffee. Normally I would say to you....thanks anyway....but under the circumstance....I guess that I'm willing. How do we do it....I'm flying out five hours from now?"

S.D......"I want to give you one website. There are plenty of others but this is a golf pro like no others today....kind of like the Tiger Woods of preachers....when Tiger was at the top that is....John Piper is his name.....desiringgod.org. Sometime....maybe at the airport....go there and start to read and listen. Here's my phone number and email address and a website of my own that I have....(he wrote all these addresses down on a napkin)....tomorrow is Sunday Heath....make today be the day that you ask God for help...and make tomorrow be the first lesson! I'll be in contact....(he asked for Heaths phone and email)....and you will will either be sorry you said....OK....or you will find the same loving and merciful and forgiving but powerful Savior and King that I found."

The two of them got up and hugged

S.D....."Want to see the scar on my neck from that night in the bar?"

They laughed.

Heath...."Next time!"

S.D....."One last thing Heath. On that night fifty years ago....I as a drunken bum....rolling around in the middle of the street....stopped cars on Forbes Avenue. About fifteen years later....1988.... there was a blasphemous movie out called....The Last Temptation Of Christ. The evangelical churches at the time held a silent and sober protest walk on Forbes Avenue....stopping right there in front of the King's Court Theater. You remember that theater I'm sure....and Heath....I stopped as we all marched....right where you dumped me....stopping traffic for the second time on the same spot....and I prayed a thanksgiving for His wondrous mercies!"

(That is a factual account also)

With that....Heath got up....they hugged again....and he walked out...as Special Dog just sat down and prayed....for an hour....that Heath might some day see the scars on the side of the risen Savior!

Just Another Low-Level Analyst......Warning On What Is Happening

Preface: This from December 2, 2023:       

                  It's no surprise that placing the blame for the intelligence failure concerning the October 7 attack in southern Israel has not been on the front burner is Israel....for they have a war to win....but that is not to say that investigations have not already begun. The Jerusalem Post is starting to broach the subject.....and in an article this morning it is reported that a low-level intelligence specialist....a female....had repeatedly been raising concerns about a surprise attack....this from her own research on monitoring communications from Gaza. Being that she was only a sergeant....initial reports are that her warnings were listened to....but they were not deemed to be specific enough to act upon.

                 I am somewhat familiar with what this would be like.....for I also....fifty years ago....was a low-level army communications specialist with a top secret clearance. In a 1975 Robert Redford movie....Three Days Of The Condor....Redford plays a low-level CIA specialist whose only responsibility was to read everything that he could....from any source....magazines or books for example....anywhere in the world....and take note of anything that might even possibly be related to plans or actions subversive to the United States. He did in fact find something....and reported it to superiors....the problem was that his superior was behind the subversive activity....thus the movie continued and the rogue element in the CIA tried to hunt the Redford character down.
                To this day I am still a low-level analyst. In fact every single Christian should be the same low-level analyst as they read God's Word....particularly prophecy. And I have also repeatedly warned....'superiors'....on what is ahead....and also repeatedly ignored because I operate only at a low-level.
                On September 14....on the eve of Rosh Hashanah....I posted this...."It seems that very few people in America know the seriousness of the situation that the world faces right now....and surprisingly it seems that the people of Israel are as every bit in the dark. It's surprising because their very existence is a day by day situation....but they are more worried about losing some personal individual liberties."
                I posted the following on July 29, 2020....The dates of the future feasts of Israel are always only a click away for me or anyone who feels that surely major prophetic events will occur on these days. This isn't date setting for we do not know the years....but we do know that God's future plans for the Jewish people will most likely revolve around their feasts. To  prognosticate on this is more than problematic....but to ignore it is being careless to God's warnings to us."  This war in Israel today started on the last day of Sukkot....or as evangelicals are more familiar with....the Feast of Tabernacles....or the Feasts of Booths.
                 The following is a paragraph from a July 18 post....Tisha B'AV starts on the evening of July 26 this year.  In my albeit insignificant forty years of studying biblical prophecy....I would find it more problematic that God would not use signs in the skies....total lunar and solar eclipses.....and Jewish feasts...than that He would still use them....but more....after-the-fact....looking back and seeing what He has done rather than looking ahead. His use of certain specific times periods....forty years or days....seventy or four hundred years....even millenniums....is almost expected." Every Jewish holiday or feast day should be a time of heightened security.
                  Here is a post from August 10....on the film that had just been released...."GOLDA....it's not really a biopic of Golda Meir because the film begins the day before the Yom Kippur War began....and basically ends as the war ends....but it was enough....and an hour and forty minutes was about perfect. Golda was released today....and we were at the second showing. You're not going to see tanks getting blown up but you will hear the orders barked out and the screams ver the military communication radios....and quite frankly....that's a lot harder to deal with. It's more than a good primer on the October 1973 war....and Helen Mirren's characterization of Golda Meir was incredible....but the reason that you might want to see this movie is that Israel may be in a similar situation in the very near future. 
                   Did you catch that last sentence...."the reason that you might want to see this movie is that Israel may be in a similar situation in the very near future."? Here a new movie had just come out....on the 50th anniversary of the surprise 1973 attack on Yom Kippur....the plot being how and why Israeli was so surprised....and I have yet to hear any comments on the coincidence of this movie coming out two months prior to the Sukkot attack. 

              

Netanyahu's Speech Before The General Assembly Of The United Nation!

Preface: The following is from September 22 after Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the United Nations...two weeks before the Sukkot attacks!

1 Thessalonians 5:3 "While people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."

                Jesus knew that within a few hours Peter would deny Him three times. Nothing was going to change this....but He still prayed for Peter....for He told him that Satan wanted to sift him as wheat. (Luke 22:31)

                Benjamin Netanyahu is calling it the potential for an historic peace...."Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia will truly create a new Middle East." He presented his case to the United Nations for a peace treaty between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He used the words "peace and prosperity." He contrasted the "blessings" of peace with the "curse" of terrorism....war....and Iran. He pointed out that four Arab neighbors had already made peace with Israel....and if Saudi Arabia follows them in making peace with Israel....than the Palestinians should recognize that they would have no choice but to make peace with Israel also.
                The speech was mostly optimism....wildly over-optimistic at times....he wasn't trying to hide that. He has to pursue peace....we all do....but just as it was decreed that Peter would fail....so will fail this latest attempt at building that...."new Middle East."
                Whatever the details are....and we do not know them now....they may on paper be sound....maybe even genius....but they will not succeed. This is like trying to build a house of cards with an oscillating fan that will eventually pass the house of cards and blow them all down.
               

God Puts The Whole World On Notice

Preface: I wanted to add this recent post: 

               "Ye chosen seed of Israel's race,
                      A remnant weak and small
                  Hail him who saves you by his grace,
                      And crown him Lord of all."              

              John MacArthur had a press release....I believe that it was just today....on the Christian's responsibility towards the Jewish people. You can easily Google it. I probably agree with his words....oh 98%....but would rather put it in my own words....adding some thoughts in the process.
              God gave notice to His church in May of 1948....with the beginning of the state of Israel....the physical return of Jesus Christ....to this world....in righteous judgment....had begun its final stage.
              I listened to a Charles Spurgeon sermon just this morning....picked at random as I usually do....this one preached on July 29, 1888....almost 136 years ago....on Jeremiah 32:41....this also can easily be Googled in audio or transcript form.
              The title of the sermon was....The Whole-heartedness of God in Blessing His People....and I....whole-heartedly....recommend it to you. Only a portion of his message....and that at the very beginning....concerned prophecy concerning Israel today....but it began with these words...."We cannot help looking for the restoration of the scattered Israelites to the land which God has given to them by a covenant of salt; we also look for the time when they shall believe in the Messiah whom they have rejected, and shall rejoice in Jesus of Nazareth, whom to-day they despise." 
              Spurgeon then acknowledged that those living at that time were not going to see this....but he added...."God send it speedily! Oh, that it were so even now! May the house of Israel look on him, whom they have pierced, and turn unto him with all their hearts." Zionism began in earnest only a few years later and saw completion 60 years later. Spurgeon then quoted the words to that most wonderful hymn that I put at the beginning of this post....All Hail The Power Of Jesus Name!
              That May of 1948 was in a sense the beginning....was clouded at first and for quite some time....but as the decades rolled on....seven of them to be exact....and violence began to quite literally overtake the world....it became increasingly clear that indeed this new state of Israel was a sign....and a warning....and a blessing as it pertains to the nearness of Jesus' return....Maranatha! 
              There is no way for us to know with certainty right now if the....'tribulation'....has or has not already started. Most would disagree that it has started....I have left that open....what with the world changing pandemic and its aftermath in so many areas. My reading of Psalms 117 and 118 and 119....tell me that something is happening there...a short declarative Psalm....the shortest chapter in the Bible....a Messianic Psalm....and a Torah Psalm....the longest Psalm and chapter in the Bible. No....God is telling us something!
              So last October....at the end of a festival....or a holiday....as so often happens....this time Sukkot....that state of Israel began a dangerous course like they never have in the past 76 years....and in the midst of uncertainty as it pertains to the nation that God set in place to protect the fledgling nation of Israel.
              I could ramble for an hour on Joe Biden and Donald Trump....but I will not. Suffice it to say that John MacArthur was correct in his words....of which I took mine...."God puts the whole world on notice; these are my chosen people. I have a plan for them. Yes, they have followed idols. Yes, they have been punished and judged, yes, they rejected their Messiah....But still, God has a future plans for the Jewish people...."

DISPATCHES

ISRAEL....Why would Iran give a warning well in advance of sending a few hundred drones and missiles that they probably knew were going to get blown out of the sky anyway? Did they want to see how many would get through and then calculate how many would get through if ten times that many were launched? Did they want to get a more accurate picture of Israel's defense procedures? Or did they simply want to save face for their general getting blown up in Syria?

Lord help us see our weaknesses: We had a wonderful sermon today in our church on the need to be born again! But this the day after the attacks on Israel by Iran....there wasn't even a mention of it in the prayer time. We have our strengths....and they are in the most important need of all....but we also have our weaknesses. The state of Israel means little to us....as we believe that this is the way to keep the gospel pure....but we miss everything else on the Jewish people that is in the Word of God that we defend. All of the denominations have weaknesses. All of us individuals have weaknesses. May God bring out our strengths....while giving us the humility to see our weaknesses....and may He do that to me!

MIKE JOHNSON GETS A SECURITY BRIEFING AND CHANGES HIS MIND: The Speaker of the House had one opinion on some restrictions to be placed on spying....until he was given highly classified information in an intelligence briefing. He then saw how ultra-serious some threats against us were....and modified his criticism and his plans on a vote. The new Republican Party has turned our intelligence agencies into the enemy....because of Trump.

JOHN BOLTON'S WRITE-IN VOTE....The former National Security Advisor to the President said in a recent interview that he wrote in DickCheney in 2020....and would do the same thing in 2024. I cast a write-in vote in 2020. As a Christian....Joe Biden is not an option....and Donald Trump is a genuine biblical false prophet. I say this because he resides in the mind of the evangelical....is right smack dab in the middle of the sheepfold....and has told us every day for none years now that we are going to be greater than we ever were....(very similar by the way to how Hananiah prophesied to Zedekiah that Jerusalem would be great again in two years....chapter 28 if you are interested)....when God's Word tells us the opposite.

THIRD PART CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT: In January I posted this....All a third party candidate would have to do is win enough electoral votes to keep either of the other candidates from 270. Then the election would go to the congress. As I posted earlier on....it is not a one-congressperson-one vote situation. If that were the case you could just look at the numbers of Rs and Ds in the House. No....our constitution calls for each state to poll their representatives and then cast their....one vote. Twenty-six votes would be needed. At this time....Republicans control 26 state delegations to congress....the Democrats control 22....and two states are evenly divided. So one might think that the Republican would likely win if the election went to the House of Representatives? Well that might not be the case. Remember...a lot of people do not want Donald Trump in the White House again

AND WHO WOULD BE THE VICE PRESIDENT: Choosing the vice president is just as complicated. The Senate decides this. They choose the vice president. There would be a lot of....'ties'....in this whole process....and it appears that everyone just keeps voting until they come up with a president and a vice president....similar to choosing a pope. Some Republicans might say....'OK....we'll go with Manchin....(if he were the third party candidate)....but we want the VP....where the Democrats might jump at that. There is a lot of room for compromise in this situation....and neither Joe Biden or Donald Trump would be getting compromise votes....do you not agree?

               I bring this up only in an attempt to demonstrate to evangelicals that....as it is often repeated...."the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry"....and that they therefore might rest on this....as did David.....
       
"For God Alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him.
 He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken." (Ps 62:5,6)